Chapter 41: Madness Is Also Contagious
After hearing the voice, my body automatically reacted. I stood up and walked towards the door.
My chaotic thoughts were all cast aside, replaced by new doubts about that voice. Why is Xiao An here? Is she looking for me? Did she come alone? How did she find this place?
Suddenly, I remembered when I first returned to this city. Xiao An couldn’t speak yet, but she pointed the way for Nana to find me.
No similar incidents happened after that, so I gradually forgot about it. I never expected her to still have this ability.
I never imagined that the one who came to save me would be Xiao An.
Then, the others must have followed, right?
Lost in thought, my forward progress was blocked. Lan pulled my hand.
“Juncheng, where are you going?”
“…”
When the moment I expected finally arrived, I saw that Lan didn’t show the madness I anticipated. There was no trace of blackening, no lifeless eyes, and no smileless face.
Instead, she had a smile on her face, as if she were a wife kindly asking her husband where he was going out, appearing gentle and virtuous.
But such a smile wasn’t Lan’s. It was more like… Lianbing’s signature smile.
Anyone who can wear such a smile at any time must be abnormal… It’s a mask to conceal a broken self.
A smile is actually a frantic way to hide one’s inner sorrow.
But since there’s this sliver of an opportunity, I’ll struggle. This was agreed upon from the start.
I won’t lie, and I won’t go back on my word.
Therefore, I didn’t turn around, but spoke in a calm tone.
“Someone’s here to pick me up. I have to go, Lan.”
Lan was silent for a long time, then slowly let go of my hand. But just as I was about to step forward, she grabbed my sleeve again. “Lan…”
“Y-yes, Juncheng, you said long ago that as long as someone came to save you, you wouldn’t stay here anymore… You… you didn’t lie… Yes, w-what’s wrong with me?”
“You’re reluctant to let go, I understand how you feel, I’m reluctant too, but I have to go now.”
In the end, Lan let go.
It was a little unexpected. I thought she would try desperately to persuade me, or even use the various tools she hadn’t used before to restrain me here.
“Dad? Dad! Are you inside?!”
The banging on the door attracted both of our attention. Lan narrowed her eyes and looked at the door, the smile on her face slowly disappearing.
A premonition of danger, something I haven’t felt in a long time, tensed my nerves. Just a glance back made me freeze on the spot, watching my title being rapidly divided by purple (possession), black (hatred), and red (killing intent). The three colors weren’t sharing equally but were mixed together, forming a color that was utterly indescribable.
Emotions were brewing and transforming, emitting an ominous aura. This was the precursor to blackening!
Personally, I was ready to be stabbed in the rider’s seat and have my head lopped off, but I didn’t want others to be involved! And it’s Xiao Hao, it wouldn’t be good for her to see such a disharmonious scene. It would be even worse if Xiao An became Lan’s target!
Realizing this, I ran to the door as fast as I could. The moment I opened it, I scooped up a surprised Xiao An and ran without looking back.
“Mm! It’s me! Where are the others?”
“There are no others, I came alone… Sister and the others didn’t bring me.”
“You came alone?!”
It’s over, it’s over, it’s completely over!
I had been thinking that if there were others, perhaps they could stall Lan for a bit, but now it seemed impossible.
If this continues, Lan will catch me before I get back!
Speaking of which, why didn’t the others come… Ah, I can probably guess without them saying. Nana must have been worried about bringing Xiao An out, so Xiao An ran out alone to find me without telling them.
Tsk, although I’m grateful that someone found me, this is the worst-case scenario. The possibility of escape is too slim.
By the way, where is this place? It’s like a maze!
“Xiao An, do you remember the way we came in?”
“Mm! I remember!”
“Very good! Guide me then!”
“Got it! Dad!”
Following Xiao An’s directions for a long stretch, and then going down the stairs, I realized it was an abandoned building.
Why it wasn’t demolished, probably because Lan bought the whole building. And only renovated one floor. If it weren’t for Xiao An, I really couldn’t have escaped from here by myself.
Going down the regular stairs probably had traps, and Lan must have installed a lot of surveillance cameras, so she knew our every move. Where else could we escape?
The fire escape!
So without a moment’s pause, I ran to the door of the fire escape, but it was locked.
I kicked it hard twice, but the fire escape door didn’t move an inch. My foot, however, took two hundred points of damage.
Ouch, ouch, ouch, I didn’t break my toenail… Did I think too simply?
But, I feel like I should be able to escape from here…
A kind of inexplicable confidence, stemming from a recurring sense of déjà vu, made me feel like this wasn’t the first time I had escaped from here, and it seemed like it had happened recently.
I couldn’t understand what was going on at all, but since this path was blocked, I had no choice but to take the stairs.
“Dad, leave it to me!” “Huh?”
Xiao An wriggled out of my arms, hooked her collar with her index finger. Her chest was already showing some development. It seems like in the future…
At this moment, Xiao An took out the item… a magatama from her flat chest.
After I rescued Xiao An from the fire egg with the magatama before, I simply gave it to her as a protective charm. Because I had a hunch that the magatama originally belonged to Xiao An.
The magatama could emit flames that wouldn’t burn me, and when I first met Xiao An, she was covered in flames from head to toe.
And the same scene appeared before my eyes again.
The magatama glowed and heated up in Xiao An’s palm, burning. Just standing nearby, I could feel the scorching heat.
The air around us was distorting, and a heat haze effect was created by the high temperature.
But the flames didn’t burn Xiao An. I saw Xiao An concentrating, and the flames grew more intense. Finally, the flames touched the lock of the fire escape door and melted it directly.
Déjà vu appeared again. Inspired, I kicked the door with all my might. This time, I successfully kicked it open.
“Excellent!”
I picked up Xiao An again and ran to the fire escape. It should have been going down, but the moment I took a step, I felt something was wrong.
No… it shouldn’t be down.
It was as if a scene from the future overlapped in front of my eyes. I saw ‘someone’ going up.
But wouldn’t escaping to the roof at this moment be a suicidal act? Lan would follow and block the fire escape, and I would have to go down the stairs again and get trapped by the traps again.
Should I believe my rational judgment or this déjà vu that felt like foreknowledge?
Science or metaphysics, rationality or instinct? Facing a dilemma, I was torn.
Tsk, I’ll just irresponsibly let someone else decide!
“Xiao An, do we go up or down?”
“Huh? I get to choose?”
“Mm! It’s up to you to choose, and hurry!”
“Emmmm… Then let’s go up!”
“Upwards!”
I knew it would be like this! Children love high places!
Although the rational part of my brain started nagging me not to blindly believe in the unscientific déjà vu, listing countless reasons to convince myself to go down, my feet were already climbing the stairs upwards.
I hope this is the right choice. Going up is going to heaven, going down is going to hell. If only it were that simple.
Running to the top floor as fast as possible, the déjà vu surfaced in my mind again.
That ‘figure’ seemed to have stopped moving? Huh? What the heck! I risked my freedom to come up here with you. If you’re going to…
If this continues, Lan will catch up sooner or later. Ahh, I’m in a desperate situation, my ass is on fire! Please, buddy, give me a sign!
Perhaps my urging worked. I finally saw the scene of the ‘next move’.
After hesitating for a moment, that figure squatted down, presented his butt, and took a starting stance… Hey, hey, you’re not going to…
My prediction overlapped with this strange déjà vu prediction. That figure really charged out like that, and then, with a beautiful hurdle, leaped over the railing and disappeared from my sight.
The déjà vu vanished completely. I felt much clearer, but the predicament in front of me remained unchanged.
“It’s quite stimulating!”
“Juncheng!”
Has she caught up already?
Lan, running out from the stairwell, gasped for breath and desperately called out to stop me.
“Don’t… don’t leave me! Please, please…”
I gritted my teeth and didn’t turn back. Instead, I slowly walked towards the railing at the edge of the rooftop.
Xiao An in my arms looked at Lan behind me, then looked up at me and asked,
“Dad… is that sister really the bad person who kidnapped Dad?”
“Then what is she to Dad? Why does she want to keep Dad?”
What is Lan to me…
“She’s, you could say, your mother.”
With that, I started running. Come on! It’s not the first time I’ve had an adventure!
Choosing the most adventurous path in the most dangerous predicament! This is me, Juncheng An’s style!
“Shut up! Xiao An! Or you’ll bite your tongue!”
Climbing over the railing, I leaped!
This airflow felt like freedom. I felt the ‘chains’ that bound me break. The corners of my mouth couldn’t help but curve up, revealing my teeth.
It turns out I’m not just used to danger, but I’m already ‘addicted’ to it.
This joy from the bottom of my heart, isn’t it because I feel excited?
Suppressing the urge to laugh wildly, similar and déjà vu, when I found myself in this situation, I remembered the one person who successfully killed me.
So, it’s not just smiles that are contagious.
Madness is also contagious.
